On Saturday, I spontaneously decided to
drive to Mission San Gabriel Archangel.
I got in my car, put my favorite worship music cd and began a half day
retreat with God- just the two of us.
During the forty-five minute drive I sang along some of my favorite
worship songs and talked with God about life.
I got to tour the mission and learn more about the Franciscan Friars
and their involvement in helping many indigenous people discover God and
lead thousands towards Christian Conversion.
This is an active mission and when I arrived the place was full of
activity, a few baptisms were taking place- yet I was able to find solitude in
the garden square. Among giant cacti and
fruit trees I united my being to God and continue to discover Him… Growing up
in a Catholic family in Mexico my understanding of prayer was very limited; I
thought repeating words in a certain order at certain times covered the
definition of prayer- and thus, I found this exercise quite unfulfilling and
boring.
Prayer is dialogue with God. You want to get to know Him more and you want
to understand His will better so you unite your being to His in prayer. For example, when you like a person you want to get to know them better so you Google them and check their social media
pages in hopes of finding out more about them.
In other words you study that person- much like one reads books on
Christian spirituality & the Bible hoping to know God better. Then you start talking to that person via
email, text, over the phone or in person to continue getting to know them. Then you ask that person on a date and began to
do things together to build that relationship.
Prayer is all that- with God! He
wants to be known by you and prayer makes that happen. Thus, when you think of prayer know that the
object is to be in communion with God and not how well or elaborate you can
recite devotions.
On Saturday, from the moment I got in my
car I started my dialogue with God and it took the shape of various types of
communication. We sang, we studied Franciscan
Spirituality, I recited prayers and lit a candle for a special intention and
just bared my soul to Him. I was quiet
and I listened. The whole morning went
by so fast and all weekend I was so affected by this moment of communion with
God. Immediately I felt and saw the
fruits of dedicating time to be with my beloved Father- for God loves to
give. I spent time with Him and He poured
His gifts into me and all weekend (even now) I feel so strong and at peace
(smile).
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